1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to safety mechanisms for firearms and particularly to a trigger safety mechanism.
2. Discussion of Background
Due to the potential risks of serious bodily injury or death, firearms must be handled carefully. Each year, numerous people die from the accidental discharge of a firearm. In order to prevent accidental discharge, all firearms come equipped with at least one safety mechanism. If the safety mechanism is engaged, the firearm will be incapable of firing, even if a round is in the chamber.
Although safeties play an important role in preventing accidental discharge of a pistol, a safety must sometimes be capable of quick disengagement. If the pistol is used in a military operation or by law enforcement, the speed in which the safety can be disengaged may be a matter of life or death. While less critical, a hunter may also miss a clean shot if the safety cannot be disengaged quickly.
Often safety mechanisms will be located on either the left or the right side of a firearm. When the user is left-handed, a safety designed for right-handers will either be awkward or will need to be reversed to accommodate the left-hander.
Safety mechanisms for pistols have been used for over a century. Typically, a button or lever on the exterior of the frame of a firearm is pressed with the user's thumb to engage the safety. The action of pressing the button disables an internal part of the pistol, such as the sear or trigger arm, so that the pistol is incapable of firing. Unfortunately, manipulation of an external safety that operates on internal components does not allow a user to verify that the pistol is actually incapable of firing without pulling the trigger. Moreover, the safety's interaction with these internal components is subject to failure so that a pistol with the safety in the off position might not fire if the safety failed.
Therefore, there is a need for a safety device which operates in a way that the user can verify that it will or will not prevent the firearm from firing without pulling the trigger and can be easily operated with the trigger finger of either hand.